The Princess Project
In this talk, Kiah invites listeners to be curious about the ways in which society systematically prevents underrepresented students from gaining the social capital they need to pursue postsecondary education and to build creative and effective connections between these communities and the institutions they seek access to. She will begin by sharing her personal background, which includes her blighted childhood dreams of being a princess, her surprise at the inequitable allocation of resources in high school, and her anger at the lack of diverse representation resulting from inequitable resource allocation in college. These experiences inspired her to research the systemic barriers such as discrimination, school funding policies, citizenship status and disparities in school discipline that contribute to the lack of diverse representation in postsecondary spaces. As a response to all of these barriers, Kiah created The Princess Project. The Princess Project is a college readiness program that seeks to empower underrepresented high school girls through culturally relevant mentoring and community involvement. Through this talk, Kiah hopes to inspire people to disrupt systemic cycles of inequity by building a network of connections between institutions and the people who they historically exclude.